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I
went along recently to the showing of a brilliant
film about the coup led against the democratically
elected leader of Venezuela Hugo Chavez. It was interesting
to see both the manipulation of the facts by the privately
owned media which was replayed and largely regurgitated
by large sections of the international media and the
welcoming in of the new 'undemocratic' leader after
the coup, by the US and the European nation states.
So here we had a situation of the majority of the
population demanding their democratic rights as enshrined
in their constitution but being told by a minority
that they could not have it (only in Latin America,
eh?). So the people after finding out the truth about
the lies spun out, took to the streets in their hundreds
of thousands and demanded that the democratic will
of the people be upheld against that of dictatorship.
Yet
now in this wee part of 'Western democracy', the sort
of democracy which is to be imposed by the US/UK occupying
forces in their 'liberation' of Iraq we see in Ireland
a denial of our own ' democratic rights'. I look at
the situation over the last few weeks and I think
of the many who have marched, protested and died through
generations to give us the right to vote. From the
suffragettes, through to the civil rights movements
they took to the streets to attempt to deliver some
democracy into the hands of the people. Whatever one
thinks about elections and if they can really bring
effective change, whether one is for or against the
peace process, this is however a fundamental question
of the democratic right of a process and of the people.
For
the British government to side with one party against
the majority of parties, against the majority of people,
against democracy itself in its cancelling of elections
is to spit on the graves of those who died for that
right to vote. In doing what Blair did he not only
took away our rights but is attempting to direct an
outcome to his liking. Whatever the reasons which
have been given the simple reality is that we have
long been told that we live in a democracy where the
will of the people through whatever mandate directs
the governance of our society but in fact we have
now found out that our democracy and governance is
neither directed by the will of the people and their
mandate but by the dictate of governance who have
now decided to deny us our rights - that democracy.
We
all know the history of our small patch of earth the
denial of democratic rights, discrimination. gerrymandering,
and the inequality dished out by a unionist governance.
Yet a tradition of not bowing down in the face of
of such denial of rights coupled with severe repression
seen people not only in Ireland but in countries around
the world stand firm and win many of those rights
now afforded to a new generation today. In Venezuela
the people would not allow their rights to be trodden
on can we in Ireland allow our rights won by generations
of such peoples to be trodden on? This is an issue
that needs to be taken up within communities, trade
unions and wider society. This cannot be allowed to
continue to set a precedent. Like those in the suffragette
movement or those in the civil rights movements through
to the peoples of Venezuela recently taking to the
streets in action we need to make our voices heard
loud and clear and state that we the people do not
ask for our democratic rights, we the people demand
them.
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